As a kid, my favorite magazine was Mad Magazine. I read Batman comics by Bob Kane, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and others, but Mad Magazine was my favorite. Each month, I would ride my bike down to Marketime, later to become Fred Meyer, and buy the newest issue. Alfred E. Newman, The Lighter Side of . . ., Spy vs. Spy were all favorites, as was their creative folding, "Fold in" back page. But, I loved reading their headline article, usually a spoof on the latest hit movie, or on some other current event. "The Sound of Money", was their spoof article of the "Sound of Music". I still remember the Do-Re-Me song spoof (Sung to "Do-Re-Me", Julie Andrews style).
"Dough, means cash, for all of us, Hooray, for musicals like this. Me, a star, so big that by, Far, it couldn't really miss, So insipid is the plot, La-de-da although we know, Te-deious thought it may seem, it will bring us back much Dough, Dough, Dough, Dough."
Why do I remember this stuff from 1965, but can't remember student's names from 2 years ago?
One article they did was a spoof on the Sergeant Rock of the U.S. Army comics. Sergeant Rock was a comic book about a WWII U.S. Army platoon led by the tough Sergeant Rock, taking on the most dangerous missions the U.S. army could devise. Mad magazine changed it to "Sergeant Silt, of the Army Corp of Engineers". In Mad's version Sergeant Silt and his platoon of workers were fighting America's Waterways by chain sawing manatees, alligators and other wildlife to make America "Straight and Flat and Free", in reference to the work being done on the Mississippi and other rivers to improve shipping.
As we rode toward Strasbourg today, that saying, "Straight and Flat and Free" kept playing in my head, because we rode for 40 miles along a canal that would have made Sergeant Silt proud. It was absolutely straight, absolutely flat (except for the occasional locks to move the barges up or down) and totally free, both financially speaking and politically. It was amazing! What a wonderful bike riding route. For 40 miles, the path along side the canal asphalt. The canal itself was rather unkept, weedy and non-navigable for the first 20 miles. But then, it turned into a beautiful, tree lined, mowed park for the next 20 miles.
Concerned to get our riding done before the predicted high of 91° today, we were up at 5:15 am and on our bikes by 6:20 am. As usual, I had left my charger and battery plugged in in the restroom. I charged my phone to 100% last night, then took the battery to the bathroom and plugged it in, about 11:00 pm. I walked in this morning to get it and . . . you guessed it, it was gone. I would like to think some Good Samaritan saw it there two nights in a row and took it to the camp office to put it in the lost and found, but more likely, some not so nice person stole it. I still have my big battery and one charger, but now I am without a backup. Disappoints me, but as one of my professors used to say, "What's a poor boy to do?"
We had scouted out a bakery on our route in Boofzheim during our ride yesterday. It opened at 5:30 am. That was our first destination. We ate hard boiled eggs with our pastries while sitting on the edge of the bakery window sill, then were on the road again. We had to backtrack about a mile through town to return to the bike path along the canal. When we got there, we dropped into it like Luke Skywalker dropping into the Death Star trench on his run to blow it up.
It may be straight and flat and free, but above all it was beautiful. Except for the occasion lock and attending lock keepers house, the route is nothing but water and trees. We marveled at the size and number of fish visible below the surface and at the size of the barges floating along the shore. They were too long to turn around, their length exceeding the width of the canal. Many looked like they had not moved from their moorings for years. And the trees lining the canal. Huge! We felt like we were back in the Versailles gardens.
We stopped a few times for Sally to sit down and get her swollen ankle raised, as it would get uncomfortable, but didn't hurt. A mist hung in the air and it was actually chilly! Great for our ride. About 10:00 am the canal widened a bit and just like that, we were in downtown Strasbourg.
Rather than turn left and head for our campground, we turned right and headed for town. We wanted to look at E-bikes for Sally. E-bikes have a computer controlled electric motor. It detects how hard you are pedaling and adds assistance to lessen your work. Most have four settings, that way you can choose how much help you want. And for steep hills there is an override throttle that allows you to apply the electric motor directly, peddling or not. Of course, this option really drains the battery. With regular assistance turned on, the battery will last about 60-70 miles.
After our fruitless search for an E-bike that we could test drive, we headed for the Strasbourg cathedral. The whole island that makes up the center of Strasbourg is a World Heritage Site, and deservedly so. As we wound our way to the cathedral we were delighted with the narrow streets, many banned to cars. The cathedral was amazing! What an exhibition of sandstone carved facades! We locked our bikes to a fence, gathered our valuables in a pack, which we took with us, and entered the church. After a few minutes, I felt uneasy about leaving all our bags just sitting on our bikes, easy pickings. We walked back out and took turns looking around, one guarding our bikes while the other looked around.
Next, we cycled toward Petite France, a particularly picturesque part of the city. As we made our way across the ancient city, Sally spotted a hair salon. She had been looking to get her hair cut and this shop was open; the other five we had looked at were not. She disappeared inside for 45 minutes and emerged pleased with the results. Typical of me, I could not tell any hairs had been cut.
The Iil River flows through the Petite France part of the town and the buildings are built right up to them, resembling the canals of Venice. It is beautiful, but we had been riding for 20 miles along beautiful canals. The impact was not as great on us as the rest of the tourists packing the area.
We headed for the campground and got site 89. No shade at all. I pitched the tent in the blazing sun to stake our territory and threw our panniers and packs inside. I found, if I throw the down quilt over the outside of the tent, it blocks the sun and keeps the temperature of the tent "manageable". You wouldn't want to spend any time in it, but your gear won't spontaneously combust if you leave it inside. I headed for the covered terrace outside the campground restaurant to hide in the shade. There, we enjoyed a snack and the company of an Englishman and his four kids, ages 5-11, three girls and a boy, Madelline, Sophie, Hannah and Tom. They were delightful and very well behaved.
We decided to go to town for dinner. We hopped on our bikes and rode the 2 Km back to petite France, using Yelp to locate a Chinese restaurant. The first one Yelp sent us to did not exist. We rode across the island to the next suggestion, but it was a buffet, something we were not interested in. While I jumped into a grocery store to score tomorrow's breakfast foods, Sally asked a lady on the street about an Asian Restaurant. She sent us to the Cathedral. Upon arrival we found nothing. We think she thought we were asking for an Alsace, not Asian Restaurant. Lost in Translation.
We settled for a delicious Kabab dinner on a street side table, then cycled through town a bit more before heading back to camp.
Three campsites down from us was a beautiful VW camper van, about 1975 vintage. Beautiful paint job and pop top lid. What caught our eye was the Washington license plate. We talked to the owners, Graham and Angela from London. They bought the van mail order from California. It came with Washington plates. They invited us for beer or wine, but we wanted an early start. We declined.
A trip to the potty and soon we were both lying "straight, flat and free" in our little tent.
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